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NOTICES 
OF THE PUBLIC SEHVICES OF 




GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



The following brief narrative of the public services of GEN. HARRISON, 
was accidentally illicited from the author. A meeting of the citizens, fovora- 
ble to the election of Gen. Harrison, President, was held, on the evening of 
March 26, at the Court House, in Cincinnati, Mr. Jacob Burnet, was pres- 
ent. A large portion of the citizens in attendance, had no personal knowl- 
edge of the incidents connected with the early settlement, in which Gen. 
Harrison, bore a part. Mr. Burnet was known to be conversant with them, 
from personal intercourse with the aetors in all of them, and actual participa- 
tion in many. A wish was felt to have a statement from the lips of one so 
competent to make it, and so familiar with the facts — upon the call of the 
meeting, Mr. Burnet addressed them, and, at their request, furnished this 
sketch for publication. It requires no editorial preface to insure it an atten- 
tive perusal. — Editor Cincinnati Gazette. 

MR. BURNET'S SPEECH. 



Mr. Fkesident, — As one of the objects of this 
meeting, is to support and advance the claims 
of our tnend and fellow-citizen General Harri- 
son, to the Presidential chair, we may devote, 
advantageously, a part of the evening to the re- 
collection of those traits in his character, and 
those acts of his life, public and private, which 
we have seen and approved, and which have in- 
duced us to prefer him to any other candidate 
who has been named, for that high and impor- 
tant station. I am awarej Sir, that no man can 
recite the prominent acts of his life, and enumer- 
ate his virtues, in an hour, or a day. A volume 
would not contain them all. Yet it maybe use- 
ful, at this crisis, to take a rapid glance at some 
of them. But first let me repeat an observation 
made by the Hon. B. Hardin, of Kentucky, a 
few years ago, on the floor of Congress, when 
discussing the bill for the relief of the widow of 
, Commodore Decatur, and others. The bill pro- 
posed to give a large sum to the widow, and a 
small one to his two nieces. Mr. Hardin was 
opposed to the bill, but contended for a difTer- 
ent distribution, if it should pass. He would 
give the large sum to the nieces, who were of 
the Decatur blood, and the smaller to the wid- 



ow. Sir, said he, in Kentucky, we look to the 
breed — we lay great stress on it — I like the De- 
catur breed-^it is a good onev Now, Sir, I am 
disposed to adopt the rule of Mr. Hardin, and 
say, I admire the Harrison breed, and am dis- 
posed to patronise it. But, Sir, what is it ? The 
enquiry may be answered in a few words : Gen- 
eral Harrison is the youngest son of the late 
Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, formerly Gover- 
nor of that State — one of the most devoted pat- . 
riots of the revolution, from its commencement 
to its close — a Whig in 1775, he opened his 
breast to the storm, and defended the liberty of 
his country, till the struggle terminated in vic- 
tory. I need only add, that he was one of the 
signers of the Declaration of Independence. — 
Such is the parentage of Harrison, and in the lan- 
guage of Mr. Hardin, you will respond the breed 
is good^it is worthy of patronage. But Gen- 
eral Harrison does not look to the talents or the 
achievements of his ancestors, as a foundation 
on which to build his own fame. He desires to 
stand or fall, on his own merits — he invites a 
strict scrutiny into his own life, the greater por- 
tion of which has been devoted to public du- 
ties, and open to the inspection of the world. — 



rs] 






If it shall be found that he has been deficient, 
either in talent, integrity, or in zeal, for the pub- 
lic good, he is ready to abide the consequences; 
but if on the contrary, in the multiplied offices 
he has held, he has discharged his duty to his 
country, with great fidelity, and great success, 
then he has a right to expect at the hands of his 
fellow-citizens, such an award as justice may 
require. His supporters, one and all, are pre- 
pared to appeal to his life, public and private — to 
exhibit it to the American people — to invite 
their strictest scrutiny, and they do it with a 
conviction, amounting to certainty, that he will 
not only pass the ordeal, unscathed, but will 
secure the approbation and the plaudits of the 
nation. 

In the year 1791, the public life of Harrison 
commenced. He had then finished his colle- 
giate course, and engaged in the study of a pro- 
fession — the profession of medicine. In that year 
the veteran St. Clair was defeated, his army 
routed, and almost annihilated, and as a conse- 
quence,the infant settlements, in the Northwest- 
em Territory, were left to the mercy of the sav- 
ages. At that gloomy period the attention of 
Harrison was turned to the West. He saw the 
danger of the pioneers — his sympathy was ex- 
cited in their behalf,and he resolved,without de- 
lay, to join them, and share their fate. Through 
his friends R. Morris and Thos. Willing, he ap- 
plied to the President for a commission in the 
army, as the most efficient mode of contributing 
to their safety. Washington, then at the head 
of the Government, informed his friends that the 
army was full, and that he had nothing to offer 
worthy the acceptance of Harrison. A subal- 
tern's commission was all he could give. They 
reported the result, and advised their young 
friend to abandon his project and continue his 
studies. He rejected their advice, and told 
them he was willing to accept of any thing the 
President could give, as his resolution was un- 
alterably made to go to the West. From that 
moment he threw aside his books, quit his stu- 
dies, and with the commission of an ensign in 
his pocket, hastened to Cincinnati. In the suc- 
ceeding winter — the Siberian winter of 1791- 2 
— he marched from this place on foot, with his 
knapsack on his back, at the head of a small de- 
tachment — through an uninhabited wilderness, 
infested with hoards of savages — to one of the 
frontier posts. This was the commencement of 
his military career. Shortly after this. General 
Wayne arrived and took command of the army. 



His penetrating eye soon discovered the talents 
and merits of Harrison, and he appointed him 
one of his Aids. In the school of that veteran 
commander, and with his example constantly 
before him, during the period of four years of 
constant, active service, he acquried the rudi- 
ments of military tactics, and learned the most 
perfect system of conducting a campaign in an 
Indian country, that has ever been practiced. — 
On that system, Wayne entered the Indian 
country, and passed through it at his leisure, 
with entire safety to his army, as his pupil, prac- 
ticing on his plans, has often done since. We 
all remember the victory obtained by General 
Wayne in 1794, over the Indians, at the rapids 
of the Miami of the Lake, which led to the 
treaty of Greenville in the succeeding year. — 
In that engagement, Harrison was in 'the fore- 
most front of the hottest bat.le;' his person was 
exposed from the commencement to the close 
of the action. Wherever duty called he hast- 
ened, regardless of danger, and by his efforts 
and example, contributed as much to secure the 
fortune of the day as any other officer subordin- 
ate to the commander-in-chief. These facts I 
learnt from the lips of Gen. Wilkinson, Col. 
Shamburg and others, who were on the ground, 
and took part in the engagement. The results 
of that victory were important. By it, the In- 
dians were disheartened and sued for peace. — 
Safety was given to the frontier settlements, and 
the British posts, at the foot of the rapids, at De- 
troit, and at Mackinac were surrendered to the 
U. States. 

The object of the war being thus accomplish- 
ed, and the army having no more fighting to do, 
Harrison, unaccustomed to a life of indolence^ 
and unwilling to contract that habit, resolved 
not to remain in camp, when he had no active 
duty to perform, and resigned his commission. 

About that time he purchased a farm on Mill 
Creek, near this city, and became an operative 
farmer. He exchanged the sword and the ep- 
aulet of the soldier, for the plough and plain 
garb of the farmer, and commenced cultivating 
the soil for the maintenance of his family. 

In the spring of 1798, Col. Sargeant was ap- 
pointed Governor of Mississippi, and resigned 
the office of Secretary to the Norlh-Western 
Territory. Harrison was appointed to the va- 
cancy, and (St. Clair being absent from the 
Territory) discharged the delicate and respon- 
sible duties of Governor of the North-Western 
Territory, to the approbation of the People.— 



v.- 



[3] 



rSJn the succeeding year, it was ascertained that 
Lpthe Territory (which then extended from the 
"^Pennsylvania line to the river Mississippi, and 
Ivfrom the Ohio to the Lakes) contained five 
^thousand free males of full age; which, by the 



tr 



Ordinance of 1787, authorized us to enter on 
the second grade of territorial government: under 
that grade we were entitled to a legislature, con- 
sisting of a Council and House of Assembly, 
and also to have a Delegate in Congress, to be 
appointed by a joint ballot of the two branches 
of the Assembly. 

It so happened that I was a member of the 
Legislative Council, and, of course, entitled to a 
vote in the choice of the Delegate. Harrison 
was a candidate — and here let me say, he was 
my intimate friend. Some years before, when 
I arrived at Cincinnati, I found myself in a so- 
ciety of strangers — not a face presented itself, 
that I had ever before seen. I brought letters 
to Capt. Harrison, then commandant of Fort 
Washington — he received me with open arms 
and a warm heart, and I became almost an in- 
mate of his family. On this statement, you are 
prepared to hear me say I voted for him. Sir, 
I did not — I voted against him, and it was the 
most distressing vote to my feelings that I ever 
gave. But he soon became acquainted with 
my motive, appreciated it correctly, and our for- 
mer friendship was restored. And now let me 
exonerate myself from the charge of ingrati- 
tude, on that occasion, which, without an ex- 
planation, would naturally fall upon me. It is 
generally known that Judge Symmcs had con- 
tracted with the U. States for the purchase of a 
million of acres of land — that he had obtained a 
patent for abovit three hundred thousand acres — 
that he had (no doubt under a full conviction 
that his contract would be completed) sold 3 
large quantity of land, beyond the limits of his 
patent, to actual settlers, who paid the pur- 
chase monev, and were then improving the land 
they had bought. Prior to the year 1799, Con- 
gress had refused to execute the contract with 
Symmes, by which that numerous and indus- 
trious class of men were liable to be dispos- 
sessed. They had just obtained some indul- 
gence from Congress as preemptioners, and were 
anxious to have it continued and extended. The 
vendor had and still did oppose their views,from 
a belief that it might prevent him from obtain- 
ing a fulfilment of his contract, and it was sup- 
posed that his son-in-law had taken the same 
view of the subject, and, under a belief that 



the contract M'ould be confirmed, and the pur- 
chasers thereby confirmed in their titles, would 
also oppose them. Under that impression, the 
purchasers were alarmed, and besought the Le- 
gislature to elect a person on whom they could 
rely with confidence. Thus you see the situa- 
tion in which 1 was placed: on the one hand, 
were these unfortunate persons, numerous and 
meritorious, presenting their grievances — on the 
other, my bosom friend, expecting my vote. — 
With me, it was a struggle between duty and 
friendship: I could not hesitate — I voted against 
my friend. He was,however,elected — and what 
was the result? Under a sense of duty, he be- 
came the friend and advocate of those very per- 
sons who had feared and opposed him; and 
gave proof to the world, that his integrity could 
not be moved by considerations of personal in- 
terest. His integrity Jiad never before been 
probed to the bottom. But,sir,this is not all : he 
had seen the injustice of the monopoly intro- 
duced into the land system of the United 
States, by which the poorer class of citizens 
were effectually excluded from its benefits. — 
The public lands were sold in tracts so large, 
that none but the wealthy could purchase. The 
poor man was compelled to buy second handed, 
and,consequentIy,at an advanced price: he was at 
the mercy of the speculator. Harrison had wit- 
nessed the oppressive operation of that principle, 
and resolved to correct the evil. He brought 
the subject before Congress, exposed the injus- 
tice and iniquity of the plan, and obtained the 
passage of a law directing the lands to be sub- 
divided and sold in small tracts. That altera- 
tion in the system, placed the poor man on a 
footing with the man of wealth, and put it in the 
power of the entire west to become freeholders 
and independent farmers. If that had been the 
last act of his life— if he had then been gathered 
to his fathers — his fame would have survived — his 
name would have been loved and cherished — 
and his country, at least the western country, 
would have erected a statue to his memory : but 
he survives, and hundreds of thousands who 
are now enjoying the fruits of that benificent 
measure, planned and carried through by him, 
know not by whose agency they obtained it. — 
The records of Congress shew, and many wit- 
nesses still living can testify, that it was Harri- 
son. He secured the boon; and, in justice to 
him, the public should be advised of the fact — 
every man in the nation ought to know it. 
In the year 1800 Congress divided the north- 



[4] 



Western territory ,by creating the territory of In- 
diana, and our friend Gen. Harrison was ap- 
pointed its first Governor; but before we look 
at his conduct in this important office, suffer me 
to notice a falsehood, relating to this period of 
his life, which his enemies have recently prop- 
agated. In one of the resolutions adopted by 
the Jackson Convention of Kentuckj-, they as- 
sert 'that he is a federalist of tlie old black cockade 
order, in the time of the elder Adams.' A more 
unfounded falsehood was never invented. My 
personal acquaintance with him commenced 
in 1796, under the administration of Washing- 
ton. The intimacy between us was great, and 
our intercourse was constant, and from that 
time, till he left Cincinnati, I was in the habit 
of arguing and disputing with him, on political 
subjects. I was a federalist — honestly so, from 
principle, and adhered to the part}-, till it dis- 
solved, and its elements mingled with other 
■ parties formed on different principles. I can 
therefore speak on this point with absolute cer- 
tainty, and I affirm, most solemnly, that under 
the administration of Washington, and the ad- 
ministration of the elder Adams, William Henry 
Harrison was a firm, consistent, unyielding Re- 
publican of the Jefferson school. He advocated 
the election of Mr, Jefferson, and warmly main- 
tained hisclaims,against Mr. Adams. 

Let us now follow him to Indiana, and take 
a concise view of his conduct while at the head 
of the government of that territory. Time will 
not admit of much detail — It must suffice to say, 
that he was Governor of that territory about 
twelve years, and during the whole of that 
time, superintendant of Indian affairs. The 
duties of those offices were discliarged with in- 
telligence and integrity, and secured the un- 
qualified approbation both of Jefferson and Mad- 
ison, under whose administrations he served. 
During that time he made more Indian treaties, 
and obtained for the U. States, larger districts 
of land, and on better terms, than any other 
agent in the employ of Government. Plain and 
republican in his manners and intercourse, and 
vigilant and intelligent in the discharge of his 
duty, he secured tlie confidence and affection 
of the great mass of the people. 

From the necessity of the case, great discre- 
tionary powers have always been vested in ter- 
ritorial governors; such as the people of no State 
liave trusted to their Chief E.xecutive Magis- 
trates — powers easily abused and perverted to 
purposes of oppression — powers tempting to an 
ambitious mind, and grateful to a tyranical one. 



Hence ti,p frequent and bitter quarrels between 
such officers and the people whom they govern. 
It may be affirmed with safety, that Governor 
Harrison was the first of that description of offi- 
cers, who applied his discretionary powers, ex- 
clusively to the public good, rendering them 
blessings instead of curses — he was the first 
territorial Governor who retired from office with 
the praises of those whom he had governed, 
resting upon his head. For the truth of this state- 
ment, we may appeal to living witnesses, in ev- 
ery part of Indiana. Since that period, the 
powers of such officers have been grpatly dimin- 
ished, by acts of Congress. In this way he 
passed through twelve years of arduous duty in 
the service of Governm^t, and of the people of 
Indiana. As superintendent of Indian affairs, ve- 
ry large sums of money passed through his hands 
every year, and such was the nature of that of- 
fice — of the manner in which the money was 
necessarily disbursed, and of the impossibility, 
in n\any cases, of obtaining vouchers, that the 
Government was compelled to rely on the in- 
tegrity of theiragenfs for the correctnessof their 
accounts. Such being the nature of that agen- 
cy. Gov. Harrison might have saved an ample 
fortune, without the possibility of detection. 
But such was not the fact. When he retired 
from the office, he settled and balanced his ac- 
counts, and not a dollar of public money re- 
/Hsined in his hands, IJe. was as poor then, as 
when he accepted the agency. 

Towards the close of his term of service in 
Indiana, the difficulty with Tecumseh and the 
Indians under his influence, took place. That 
highly gifted chief had formed a plan to unite 
the Indians from Florida to the lakes, against 
the United States, for the purpose of causing a 
recession of a part of the lands granted by trea- 
tv, and of restricting the settlements of the 
whites, within certain limits; and with tliat 
view he visited the tribes in person, and was on 
the eve of succeeding in his project, so far at 
least, as related to the union he sought. But 
Harrison was not asleep; such a movement 
could not evade his vigilant eye. He penetra- 
ted the scheme of the wary chief, and commu- 
nicated it to the government, in time to defeat 
it. As soon as the information was received by 
the President, he directed Harrison to raise a 
force of about eight hundred *ien, to coiieist of 
the fourth regiment, and militia volunteers; and 
to march to the Prophet's town, on the river 
Tippacanoe, for the purpose of securing peace. 
That order was executed so promptly, and the 



[5] 



• troops marched with such dispatch, that our lit- 
tle army reached their destination, before the 
return of Tecumseh. It was the special order 
of the President, that General Harrison should 
carry the olive branch — invite the Indians to a 
treaty— assure them of the friendly disposition 
of their great father, and on no account to pro- 
voke or molest them, unless he should be actu- 
ally attacked. That order was obeyed. The 
little army reached the village in the afternoon. 
The Indians were invited to meet the Governor 
in council, and were assured that no hostility was 
meditated towapds them. They promised to meet 
him the next day ;but he was confident, from their 
manner and conduct, that they intended to meet 
him in combat, and not in the council house, 
and mad^ his arrangements accordingly. He 
ordered the encampment to be so made, as to 
form the line Of battle ;he dictated the plan, and 
overlooked its execution ;he caused each corps to 
occupy the ground on which it was to fight, in 
case of an attack, and the men were ordered to 
sleep in their clothes, and on their arms. The 
result proved his sagacity. As he had predict- 
ed, the Indians attacked hisline, an hour or two 
before day-light, and one of the most desperate 
battles ensued that the records of Indian war- 
fare contain. The enemy kept their ground 
two hours, and what is unusual with them, made 
repeated charges on our troops. During the 
whole of the battle, Governor Harrison was on 
horseback, in the midst of the conflict, directing 
every movement in person. At length the In- 
dians gave way and fled. Our troops took pos- 
session of the town — burnt it — destroyed the 
cornfields, and then leisurely returned to Vin- 
cennes. By that movement the deep laid plan 
of Tecumseh was frustrated, the Indians dis- 
heartened, and the entire frontier of Indiana^ 
obtained security. 

Notwithstanding the important results of that 
victory were manifest, there were those who at- 
tempted to rob the victor of his well earned lau- 
rels. Among other things it was alledged that 
his force'was greatly superior in numbers to the 
Indians. This falsehood was easily put down. 
As soon as the report began to circulate, I wrote 
to my friend Capt. Wells, Indian agent at Fort 
Wayne, requesting information on the subject. 
He answered me promptly, that a number of his 
own tribe (Miamis) had returned from the bat- 
tle, wme of them wounded; that he had seen a 
number belonging to tribes on the Lakes, on 
their way home from the battle, some of them 
badly wounded : that he had conversed with 



them, and that from their reports, the nnmber 
engaged against Harrison, was at least twelve 
hundred. Sir, I will venture to affirm, that 
twelve hundred Northern Indians, were never 
before defeated and Touted by eight hundred 
white men. Harmer and St. Clair out num- 
bered their opponents, yet both were defeated, 
and the victory of Wayne was obtained over an 
Indian force much inferior to his own. It will 
be recollected that the battle of Tippecanoe was 
fought and won shortly before the commence- 
ment of the late war with Great Britain. Har- 
rison had scarcely rested from the fatigues of his 
recent campaign, when the war commenced. — 
He had just obtained security for the frontier of 
Indiana, when his attention was attracted to the 
exposed situation of ours. Hull had marched to 
Detroit, without establishing posts on his route, 
to secure supplies. The Indians were between 
him and our frontier settlements, which, of 
course, were exposed to depredation. Harrison 
saw our danger and hastened to our relief. He 
resigned the government of Indiana, came to 
this place, as a private citizen, and a volunteer in 
our cause, ready to throw himself between us 
and the danger that threatened. This move- 
ment excited general attention, and all eyes 
were turned to him, as the defender of 
Ohio. As yet, however, he was a private citi- 
zen, without military rank, or command. Our 
sister State, Kentucky, knew him thoroughly, 
and having entire confidence in his talents, pru- 
dence, and courage, created him a Major Gen- 
eral in their militia. About the same time, the 
President appointed him a Brigadier, and soon 
after a Major General, and gave him the com- 
mand, in chief, of the north western army. — 
From the time he assumed the command, the 
frontier settlers felt themselves safe, and those 
who had left their cabins and retreated with 
their families to the more dense settlements, for 
safety, left their block houses, and returned to 
their farms. Such was the confidence inspired 
by the presence of Harrison. 

It is impossible to estimate, correctly, the dis- 
tressing, perplexing difi^iculties he had to encoun- 
ter in collecting and transporting to the neigh- 
borhood of the lake, the material necessary to 
make a descent on Canada. Every article was 
to be carried over an extensive wilderness, then 
uninhabited, without roads, or canals of any de- 
scription. It frequently happened that wagons 
started from the settlements, loaded with pro- 
vender, which was almost entirely consumed by 
the teams which drew it, before they reached 



[G] 



tteir destination. During the time these pre- 
parations were in progress, Hull having surren- 
dered, Harrison had a numerous and vigilant 
enemy before him, to watch and keep in check. 
Witness their attempt oh Fort Wayne — their 
attack and defeat of Winchester, at Raisin — the 
assault on Fort Stephenson, and the memorable 
seige of Fort Meigs. The defence of the latter 
was one of the most brilliant achievements that 
occurred during the war. Harrison command- 
ed the garrison, and conducted the defence in 
person. The work was temporary — thrown to- 
gether in haste, the principal security of which 
was pickets of wood. The garrison consisted 
of a few hundred militia, and the Fort was in- 
vested by an army of British and Indians, the 
former commanded by Proctor, the latter by 
Tecumseh, amounting to three thousand. They 
were furnished with every engine of war, ne- 
cessary to their enterprise. Yet, with that fear 
ful odds against him, Harrison maintained his 
ground, repaired the breaches in his works, as 
fast as they were made, and was able success- 
fully to resist their efforts for twelve days, when 
the enr:my, in despair, raised the siege and re- 
tired. It was afterwards ascertained that Proc- 
tor had made a solemn contract with Tecumseh, 
to deliver General Harrison to the Indians, to be 
put to the torture. That stipulation was de- 
manded by the savage, as the only condition on 
which he would join in the expedition. 

After the siege was raised, Harrison again di- 
rected his energies to the work of preparation 
for a descent on Canada. The moment that ob- 
ject was accomplished, he struck his long medi- 
tated blow. In a few weeks he captured Fort 
Maiden — retook Detroit, with the territory sur- 
rendered by Hull — pursued the British and In- 
dians — overtook them at the river Thames — 
forced them to a battle, in which he routed and 
dispersed the Indians, and captured the entire 
British army, with their artillery and baggage. 

That decisive victory closed the war in the 
West. The victor then went down the Lake 
in pursuit of another opportunity of fighting for 
the glory and safety of his country; but finding 
none, he returned to his family, and the Gov- 
ernment having no further need for his services, 
he resigned his commission, and, Cincinnatus 
like, returned to the plough, and became again 
the humble, unassuming farmer of North Bend. 
If time permitted, it would be a pleasant task 
to trace his subsequent career, in politicallife. — 
To view him in the Legislature of Ohio. In 
Congress, on the floor of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, and subsequently in the Senate 



Chamber, where he maintained the same prin' 
ciples, and the same fidelity to the interest of 
his constituents, that has marked his whole life. 
To the complaint of the war worn soldier, his 
ear was ever open; that meritorious class of 
sufferers never sought his aid, or called for the 
exertion of his talents in vain. In short his 
time and the energies of his mind, were devo- 
ted to the business he was sent to perform. 

We might follow him, on his mission to Bogo- 
ta, and see the firm, yet conciliating manner, in 
which he maintained the rights, and sustained 
the dignity of his Goveriiinent. In that land of 
superstition, where priest-craft and military rule 
were predominant, and all the powers of gov- 
ernment concentrated in one man, our envoy 
did not cease to be a republican. The princi- 
ples he had learnt in infancy, and practiced in 
manhood, became more valuable in his estima- 
tion, by witnessing the effects of arbitrary pow- 
er, on the unfortunate people around him. Bold 
and daring in the perfoimance of what he con- 
sidered a duty, and feeling compassion for the 
oppressed inhabitants of the country, as he 
heard them groan under the yoke of military 
despotism, he resolved to make an effort in their 
behalf, by a direct appeal to the honor, interest 
and patriotism of the dictator. Bolivar. The 
letter which he wrote on that occasion, is in 
print, and does honor to his head and heart. It 
is replete wilti sound republican principles, and 
contains an able argument in favor of civil lib- 
erty, intended to shew the usurper, that his 
course was as destructive of his own happiness 
and fame, as it was of the happiness of the 
people. We all know the rude, insulting man- 
ner of Gen. Harrison's recal from that mission, 
which attain consigned him to private life. 

And for these brilliant services, rendered at 
the imminent hazard of his health and life, what 
hasbeen his reward 1 has it been money, or fame ? 
As to the first, we all know, that he left the pub- 
lic service aspoor as he entered it; and as to the 
second, let me ask your attention to the thous- 
and slanders which have been propagated, and 
arc still circulated against him, for the wicked 
purpose of robbing him of a character, in the 
acquisition of which, he has devoted forty 
years to the service of his country. To what 
quarter can you direct your attention — into what 
a'dministration print can you look, and not see 
this pure, unassuming patriot branded with epi- 
thets, which belong to knaves and traitors only. 
It seems asif every brayingpolitician, who looks 
for office, without merit to sustain him, attempts 
to conciliate the powers that be, and gain a 



[7] 



standing in the ranks of the parly, by pursuing 
this unhallowed course. The public services, 
and private virtues, which he honestly claims, 
and which are legitimately his own, are wrested 
from him. The laurels which his gallant deeds 
have won, are torn from his brow, to decorate, 
and give false lustre to a would-be-rival. "Every 
thing amiable, lovely, and of good report," how- 
ever appropriately his own, is denied him, and 
there is no epithet in our language too degrad- 
ing to be applied to his character. 

Believe me sir, nine tenths of those who thus 
assail him, do it in despite of their better judg- 
ment. They know the truth — they understand 
his character — they are conscious of the false- 
hood and injustice of their charges; but having 
made up their minds to cast off principle, 
in pursuit of personal aggrandisement, they 
go ahead, reckless as the pirate or the highway 
robber. They pursue this course from policy, 
because they know the firmness and purity of 
the Ohio farmer. They know he cannot be 
won by partisan services — that in his hands the 
patronage of the government would not be 
brought into conflict with the freedom of elec- 
tions; and that therefore the demagogues of the 
day would not find the political caucus, or the 
election ground, a safe road to office. Our can- 
didate displays no flag inscribed with the motto 
of the Albany regency, "The spoils of victory, 
(meaning the offices and the treasury of the 
nation,) belong to the victors." Hence it is that 
his talents, public services, firmness and integ- 
rity of purpose, are the procuring cause of the 
persecution he endures. 



Under such circumstances, it is consoling to 
know that he is not indebted for his nomina- 
tion to executive influence, official caucusses, 
or his own intrigues, but to the free, spontaneous 
will of the people themselves, firmly and loudly 
proclaimed in their primary assemblies. Yes, 
the people of Pennsylvania, of their own free 
will & accord, were the first to place his honored 
name on the roll of candidates, and they have 
sustained, and they will sustain it. The people of 
the west, particularly owe him a debt of grati- 
tude, which they never will expunge, till it is 
amply paid. — They are now reaping the fruits 
of his foresight and his toil, and are impatient- 
ly waiting for the time when they may render 
him a suitable return: and may I not add the 
people of the east and the south are rousing 
from their slumbers — opening their eyes on the 
truth — discovering the gulf, deep and wide, 
which lies before them, and directing their at- 
tention to Harrison, as the only pilot within their 
reach, on whose skill and fidelity they can rely, 
to navigate their ship across it. But however 
that may be, let us keep our eye steadily fixed 
on this star of the west, as it rises to the zenith, 
forgetting for the present, the lustre of others, 
equally and even more brilliant. And when 
the day arrives on which the Constitution per- 
mits the people to speak with authority, we 
shall hear a voice not to be resisted, calling the 
statesman, patriot and farmer of the West to 
the highest office in the gift of a free and grate- 
ful people. 



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